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Month: May 2017

The pros swam the entire 1.2 mile swim course that included an upriver portion.

The AG athletes swam all down river and only .8 miles.

So no, I didn’t actually beat all the pros.

Race morning was much better than anticipated. All week, the weather was showing close to, if not, 100% chance of thunderstorms. While it rained overnight, we were fortunate to wake up race morning to no rain, overcast skies, and a much less chance of rain during the race. I walked down to transition and set up the rest of my gear (my bike was already there) before boarding a bus to get shuttled to the swim start. Once over at the start, I made my way to the front (it was a self-seeding rolling start) and hung out with all my teammates until the start of the race. The pro men started at 6:50 a.m. and the women at 6:55. AG was supposed to start at 7:00, but we just kept waiting and waiting. The next thing we noticed, a boat was moving the first red turn buoy from up river to diagonally across the Tennessee River. Obviously chatter and confusion started amongst all the athletes. Shortly thereafter, the IM official announced they were changing the AG swim because they felt the pros struggled more than expected with the roughly 400 meter upriver portion. Now, the AG athletes would be swimming all down river and roughly .8 of a mile (vs 1.2 mile swim the pros had).

The AG race didn’t start until just after 7:15. I was about 20 or so people back from the start with all my Every Man Jack teammates. I started off well and actually felt quite good. I’m sure the current certainly helped me feel strong. I ended up swimming 14:48 for roughly 1400 yards (according to my Garmin (for comparison sake, 1.2 miles should be roughly 2100 yards)) which comes out to a blazing 1:05/100 yard pace. Obviously the current is the only reason I swam that fast.

T1 starts with a run along the river before running up a steep ramp to get to the parking lot area our bikes are in. I used this opportunity to try and make up a little time by running hard to my bike. I got out of my Roka wetsuit better than last week at KC Triathlon and headed out to bike after putting on my helmet.

Coming into the race, I fully planned to be a little more conservative than normal on the bike. My longest ride leading up to race day was only 61 miles (I’m not counting EMJ camp in late February as it wasn’t part of my race specific build). Unfortunately, I had to adjust a few key training sessions and longer rides due to poor weather. Plus, I had raced the two weeks prior to this race, so those weekends also didn’t allow for longer, 70.3 type miles and intervals.

I settled into my range of watts I was hoping to hold over the ride. I focused on hydration and nutrition early because I not only knew it’d be important for a good run, but also I likely wasn’t as hydrated pre-race as I needed and it was already quite humid. Seven miles into the ride, my EMJ teammate, Reid Foster, flew by me like I wasn’t moving. Reid is deep in his build for IM Boulder and an incredibly strong cyclist, so I knew I wouldn’t be seeing him again during the bike. Just a mile later, a group of 3 came rolling by me. One of the athletes was in my AG, so I was disappointed to see the three of them drafting and rotating with only a few bike lengths between each other. Not much I can do about it, so I just got back to focusing on my own race while watching this group of three (soon to be four after a female pro joined) slowly pull away from me for the next 10 miles. Around 22 miles, another EMJ teammate, Mike Vulanich, came rolling past me. I know Mike is a great runner, so I wanted to keep him within sight for as long as I could. Eventually, the pace was just a little too much for me, so I eased off and went back to doing my own thing again. I knew the second half of the ride would be quicker with a slight tailwind, and the rolling hills were slight downhill vs slight uphill like on the first half. I used this time to dial back and recover a bit because around 75 minutes, I was starting to get a little tired, a bit of a headache and my eyes were hurting. I can only assume that was because I was in the aero position and looking up for longer than I’m used to. My headache was probably a combo of being dehydrated since it was humid and from my eyes hurting. Fortunately, I just went through the second aid station and I decided to grab a Gatorade (i.e electrolytes to help my headache (hopefully)). I took a bit of a risk here since I’ve never had full Gatorade in a race. I typically dilute it with roughly 50/50 water/Gatorade mix since it’s strong and can upset the stomach. I seemed to handle it just fine, and it did help the headache ease a bit. It never fully went away, but it also didn’t get worse. Around 42 miles, the sun started to peak out and I was hoping it would go away since I was already feeling the humidity; and, fortunately it did! The last aid station at 45 miles was much needed. Back in 2015 for my full Ironman, this is where I got a full banana at roughly mile 105. This time, I got a half banana and it was incredible. I think I was just craving real food after eating all my Picky Bars and just finishing off my GU Chomps. After the aid station and making the right turn, there’s just 11 miles left. I was starting to feel a little better but still didn’t want to push it too hard and ruin my chances for a good run. I was able to pass two of my teammates during this time and just kept a good rhythm all the way back to transition. I also made it a point to drink my entire bottle of 50/50 water/Gatorade that I just refilled from the aid station. I wanted to start the run topped off hydration/electrolyte wise. Overall, I’m quite happy with my bike ride of 2:19:25 for the 56.5 miles. Could I have gone faster? I’m sure I could have, but it likely wasn’t in my best interest for my overall time. I hit the range of watts I wanted, but what is more interesting to me is my HR was unusually low with an average of 136 for the bike ride. Not sure what to make of that, so I didn’t, I just went to go run.

T2 was nice and smooth. I racked my bike, put on my Sock Guy socks and Saucony Kinvara 7’s, got my race belt and took off to start the run. But first, I needed to make a quick pit stop.

After coming out of the porta potty, I saw my EMJ teammate Jack McAfee running by. I know Jack is a very strong runner, so I picked up my pace a bit to catch him so we could start the run together. We had a nice conversation for the first out and back section where I asked him, among other things, about what pace he’s planning to run. He told me 5:50’s and I was just targeting 6:00 pace, but decided to stay with him for a while despite our pace the first half mile being 5:33 pace! It was fun talking to him, and running with people is always more fun. But just like with the bike, I knew I needed to run my own race and not dig a hole early by going too fast. I really wanted to throw down a fast run split because I felt coming into the race I was in some of my best run shape I’ve been in for several years. As we went up the first hill approaching mile 1, I told Jack to have fun and dropped back a bit and rolled through in 5:46. The first aid station was just after the first mile. Going into the run, I decided I’d just play nutrition by ear and go off feel. If I felt like I needed the electrolytes, I’d do water/Gatorade mix in a cup. If I just wanted only water then I’d do that. Calorie wise was also by feel but I figured I’d primarily rely on Clif Bloks (which is what is available on course). At the first aid station, I took in some water and for some reason grabbed a Clif Bar. I have absolutely no idea why since there are so many better options that are easier to get down while running fast. Plus, I have never eaten a bar while running in training. In between mile 1 and 2, I gave myself the “oh what the hell” speech and decided I’d actually eat this Clif Bar instead of just carrying it. However, I also remembered IM Chattanooga when I tried to do this without water and it was disastrous and impossible to get down. So, as the second aid station approached, I ate the bar and washed it down with water/Gatorade mix. Doesn’t that just sound so appetizing? Somehow, it worked, but I probably wouldn’t suggest it.

For the first four miles, I actually felt really good and smooth going 5:57, 5:50, and 5:50 for miles 2 through 4. I knew the hills were looming, but felt quite good and didn’t feel like I was over extending myself yet. During this section, I was thoroughly enjoying myself and just having a good time by joking with volunteers, encouraging my teammates as they ran past me in the opposite direction on out and backs, and letting positive thoughts flow like crazy. The first tough hill came at mile 5 and slowed me down to a 6:10 mile. Up to this point, I had kept Jack in sight and caught him on this hill. I encouraged him to hang in there as I knew he was starting to struggle. I passed Reid going across the bridge to the other side of the river and ran mile 6 in 5:47. I don’t remember many of my mile splits during the race, but I do remember doing a double take here because I caught a glance of my cumulative time. I saw 35:XX, so I looked closer and saw 35:23 and laughed on the inside because last week at KC Triathlon, I ran 10k (6.11 officially on my Garmin) in 35:35. What’s crazy is that no negative thoughts crept into my mind about running too fast or not being able to sustain this pace. I just remember laughing a bit on the inside and carrying on. I also heard just after this from Jordan (EMJ teammate spectating) that I was in 2nd overall with just Mike in front of me. I got across the pedestrian bridge and went through mile 7 in 5:55. Again, the split didn’t register with me; I was just out running, having a good time, and still feeling good, relatively speaking. Something clicked starting lap two and I started feeling great. I went through mile 8 and 9 in 5:31 and 5:33. I even gave my mom a high five as I passed her. I went through mile 10 in 5:51 and was in the lead now and knew I just needed to get through 3 more miles and 3 more tough climbs. I was holding my 5:50 pace before getting to the same tough hill at mile 5 that slowed me on lap 1. This hill slowed me down again as I shuffled my way up it at 7:30-8 min pace and went through mile 11 in 6:23. I do not like that hill and I’m not looking forward to running it two more times at 70.3 World’s in September. This was really the first time I specifically remember hurting. I definitely had pain and soreness prior to this, but I was in a groove and rolling, so I think I subconsciously blocked it. Similar to the mile splits, I saw them (and felt the pain) but nothing was registering. There was no positive self-talk or “just get to the X time or distance or hill or turn or aid station and reassess”, bargaining with yourself type of things going on inside my head. I was just out running and having fun. Going back across the bridge and river I knew I had just 2 miles and 2 hills left. I went through mile 12 in 5:45 and couldn’t believe it. I took in one last cup of water/Gatorade mix at the last aid station prior to running up and over the pedestrian only bridge. This bridge hurt, a lot. I specifically remember my form breaking down early on the climb across the bridge. I was starting to “sit” and let my hips really drop. I wasn’t running on my toes, and I started leaning back, especially my head. So, I shortened my stride, got on my toes, had a slight lean forward and told myself to tough it out for less than a half mile and it’d be all downhill (literally) from there. I made it up and over the bridge and saw my dad on the other side. He noticed my form was terrible and told me to just keep it together down the hill. I tried my best to finish as strong as I could. I knew my pace up the bridge wasn’t good, so when I heard my watch buzz at mile 13 and saw another sub 6 (5:54) I knew I was flying down the hill. I might have pushed that downhill a bit too much and overestimated how far the finish line was because I fell apart the last .06 (I had 13.06 officially on my Garmin) which made for a very painful last 25 seconds of the race. I crossed the finish line and was beyond thrilled to be done. I stopped my watch and saw 1:16:42. I was utterly exhausted so it didn’t register right away, but after I got some water it all hit me and I was so incredibly happy.

This picture cracks me up. My mom got a picture of my dad taking a picture of me while I look like I’m about to be run over by a car.

Shortly after finishing, Mike came across the line followed shortly by another athlete (Alan). I found out Alan started the swim later than me and only finished roughly 1:30 behind me. Crap! Did he just beat me?!? Instantly I asked my dad to check his overall time on his phone to see if he had beaten me. After about 10 minutes when Alan’s result finally updated, I found out I lost the overall title by 8 seconds…8 stinking seconds. I, naturally, didn’t believe it and then started playing the “what if” game. After several hours, I found out a bit more. Alan had run at the Olympic Trials Marathon before and is clearly legit. I also found out he outran me by 10 seconds. It would have been a lot of fun to race him head-to-head since we nearly ran the exact same time and finished 8 seconds apart. That means that since it was a rolling start, I virtually started the run 2 seconds in front of him.

Overall, I couldn’t be happier. Yeah, I whined and complained about 8 seconds for several hours, but I got over it. Coming into the race, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel. Not only were there weather concerns, this was also my third straight weekend of racing and I was coming off a race where I was not happy with my run. In hindsight, I can now see that I carried a bit too much fatigue into Kansas City Triathlon. So I had doubts that I’d still be too fatigued to put up a fast time on a challenging course. If you had told me coming into the race I would run a 1:16 half marathon on this course, I would have signed up in a heartbeat. Absolutely no way I thought I’d run that fast. Only 2 people out ran me (Alan in 1:16:32 and a pro in 1:16:11). I honestly thought 1:18 would be incredible (hence me targeting 6-minute pace pre-race). In early April, I ran a solo (i.e. no swim or bike before it) half marathon in 1:14:25 on a course that is similar in elevation gain as Chattanooga, but I don’t view it as hard because the hills come early in the race whereas Chattanooga has the hills in the last 3 miles of each lap (5-7 and 11-13). So, to be only 2:18 slower than that time is just unbelievable to me and arguably one of my best run performances I’ve had.

Thank you so much to all my teammates racing in Chattanooga this weekend. The support, encouragement, and motivation were tremendous and much needed. Thank you, Purplepatch Fitness, for getting me ready to tackle this course and to Paul Buick for working with me on saddle and bike fit to get me dialed in for race day. To all Team Every Man Jack’s sponsors, thank you so much!

Two weeks ago at Trizou in Columbia, MO, I kicked off 3 straight weekends, and ultimately, 4 out of 5 weekends of racing. I woke up race morning at 3:30 a.m. and was on the road by 3:40 for the 1:45 drive to Columbia. After getting my packet, setting up my bike and gear, I headed inside to the 50-meter indoor pool to get in a nice warm up. With 15 minutes to go before the race, we all had to get out of the water. I, unfortunately, stood on the deck shivering for close to 15 minutes. Not an ideal situation for a sprint distance triathlon where you go full gas from the start.

As expected, I felt flat and sluggish on the swim, likely due to being cold. I basically swam the exact same time as I did in 2016 (technically 2 seconds slower), which was a little disappointing because I thought I’d be about 10-15 seconds faster than the previous year. I quickly got on my bike and set off to catch the leader (Evan) who is a very fast swimmer. The course is pretty much either uphill or downhill with just a few flat sections. I hammered the 13-mile bike course as hard as I could. Unfortunately, I couldn’t close much time on Evan and started the run about 20-25 seconds down. Just like in 2016, I ran hard and caught Evan just after the 1 mile marker. I kept the pressure on and tried to open the gap as much as I could. I was very pleased with my run and ended up running 30 seconds faster (over 2.9 miles) than I did in 2016. My overall time was 4 seconds slower than 2016, but I was definitely happy to start my season off with a win.

I recovered really well after Trizou and was extremely excited for Kansas City Triathlon the following weekend. With the addition of prize money in 2017, the race enticed 2 pros to make the trip to KC for the race. It’s also my “home town” course as the bike course is where I do all my key intervals and only about 5 miles from my house. Sleeping in my own bed, waking up at my normal time and no long commute race morning is really nice.

The excitement race morning was electric. This race always brings out all the local triathletes, so it was a lot of fun seeing everyone before and after the race. The swim was a two-lap swim course. I started off well and felt I had a good line. Some of the faster swimmers started pulling away just a few hundred yards into the swim. I tried to pick up the pace but couldn’t, so I just settled into my own rhythm. At the end of lap 1, you have to get out, do a short beach run, and get back in the water to start lap two. Just like last year, I had a hard time getting back into my rhythm after the beach run as my HR went through the roof. I eventually settled back in and started weaving my way around the other swimmers who were on lap 1. I got out of the water and knew I had lost a decent amount of time to the top group, but was determined to make the most of it.

T1 was quick and smooth. I got my Roka wetsuit off quickly, put on my helmet and took off to start the bike.

I started off strong and knew I’d have some work to do to catch the two pros as well as Evan (fast swimmer I raced at Trizou). I was able to get two time checks on u-turns within the first 12 minutes of the first lap. I was already starting to close in on the two in front of me, but was losing a little time to the leader. The headwind definitely made for a tough 5-mile stretch with no protection, but I felt good into the wind and was gaining more time. I caught the first pro about 22 minutes into lap one right before a big hill we climb. I also noticed I had gained about 30 seconds on Evan who was in 2nd place at that point. The 5-mile tailwind section was quite nice to finish lap 1 and start lap 2. Similar to lap 1, I just kept the pressure on and noticed I made up a lot of ground on second place during the tailwind section. I caught second before one of the u-turns and as we were all (2nd – 4th overall) going around the u-turn, I heard a noise. I looked to see that the pro right behind me snapped his chain as I saw it on the ground; terrible luck for him. The rest of the second lap was uneventful. I kept on top of nutrition and hydration to help me for the run. I was hoping to put down a fast run time based on recent run workouts and my improved time from the previous year at Trizou.

T2 went really smoothly, just like T1. I slipped on my Sock Guy socks as I didn’t want to get blisters since I am racing a 70.3 in 1 week.

The run started off well. I felt smooth and good early on and set off to make up some time to the leader and put down a fast run split. I knew there was no way I’d catch 1st, but I just wanted to run well for myself and to finish off a good day of racing. I was holding around my goal pace (5:20) for most of the first mile before the short, but quite steep, uphill before mile 1 (and mile 4). The hill slowed my split down to 5:34, but I wasn’t worried. I knew there’d be a nice downhill and flat section for the next few miles. I rolled through mile 2 in 5:26 and still felt really good and smooth. For whatever reason, right after this mile, I started feeling awful. It was really weird to go from feeling smooth and good to riding the struggle bus in such a short period of time. I basically struggled to hold 6 minute pace the last 4 miles, which is really confusing to me. Every time I tried to pick up the pace and settle into a faster rhythm, I would last for just a few seconds and went back to 6 minute pace. Miles 3 through 6 were, in order: 5:49, 6:03, 5:57, 6:07. I’d like to think and say that I just cruised it in since there was no way I was catching first, I wasn’t going to get caught from behind, and I race a 70.3 in 1 week, but that just simply wasn’t the case. I just didn’t have it on the run like I thought I would.

Overall, I’m definitely happy to finish 2nd overall and take home some money. Ultramax Sports did a phenomenal job putting on this race and getting the elite wave and prize money set up for this year. I expect this race to only continue to grow and bring in even better competition in future years.

Next up for me is the last of my 3 straight weekends of racing when I head to Chattanooga for the half Ironman with about 15 of my Every Man Jack teammates.

I have to give a huge shout out to my mother. Not only did she take some fantastic pictures (see below) but she also spent her mother’s day morning out at Longview Lake to watch me race. Forever grateful and truly the best mother ever! Thank you also to my dad, sister, uncle, Cameron and all the athletes and spectators that cheered for me during the race. The support is greatly appreciated. Also have to thank trisports.com for getting my online order to me so quickly. Cleaning my Felt IA10 with the tools I bought was much needed heading into a big race. And as always, Every Man Jack (use KDENNY17 for 25% off online orders) and all our tremendous sponsors that make training and racing much easier and desirable.